I like good news.
Politically, I know it doesn’t happen too often, and when it does, it’s often drowned out by all the bad news.
A government that claims the power to collect and monitor anything and everything you say or do, use drones to spy on people without a warrant, require millions to pay a fine for doing nothing – and so much more – that’s not the government of a “free country.” It’s not even close.
But, last weekend, two very positive things happened.
I believe it’s important to focus on them as much as possible – build upon them – and continue to chip away at the beast that is federal power until they’re rendered toothless.
POLITICO/DRUDGE
First up is some mainstream media coverage on the nullification movement. On Saturday, Politico ran a front-page article with the title, “States seek to nullify Obama efforts.”
Infuriated by what they see as the long arm of Washington reaching into their business, states are increasingly telling the feds: Keep out!
Surprisingly, they quoted me generously in the report – putting my comments first before quoting anyone else.
“Rosa Parks is the beacon of light: If you say no to something, you can change the world,” Michael Boldin, founder of the Tenth Amendment Center, which favors states’ rights, told POLITICO.
“Isn’t that what it’s supposed to be, ‘We, the people’?” he added. “Over the past few years, you’ve seen this growing. … People are getting sick and tired of federal power.
Following up on another report on the nullification movement in the Associated Press last month, this article signals that the movement has grown to the point that, while such reports aren’t yet common, we can’t be ignored anymore.
Drudge Report took notice as well, highlighting the Politico article top-center on Saturday:
From what was once seen as an historical oddity to something that’s now supported by the majority of mainstream voters, nullification has gone big time.
Big time. And we’ve still barely scratched the surface.
This is not just good news, but great news.
Why? Because a lot of new people – and I mean a lot – are learning about the nullification movement from these reports. This can only fuel our work. Because the more they hear about it, the more likely it is that people will take action to support it. The more steps people take to nullify, the more we’ll see successes on a state and local level. And the more that happens, the more the mainstream will have to report on it.
From there, the cycle repeats.
CAMPAIGN FOR LIBERTY
Just minutes earlier on Saturday, John Tate, President of Campaign for Liberty, sent out an email to what could be as many as hundreds of thousands of supporters and activists to highlight the importance of state-level activism:
(Campaign for Liberty State Leaders) are the ones leading the fight for liberty in your neighborhoods and state capitals.
Tate shared a number of success stories, noting that state-level pressure can bring in great results for liberty. This is a very welcome development from a large, national organization that has primarily focused its efforts on trying to organize in support of national-level campaigns.
I know C4L has encouraged state-level activism in the past, but I can tell you that the last 6 months or so have seen more direct involvement from their state chapters in specific nullification efforts that TAC has spearheaded than in any year since either organization was formed.
This is an incredibly good thing.
Earlier this month, when Tom Woods released a video that said the Tenth Amendment Center has “done more than anyone in the world to promote the venerable Jeffersonian idea of nullification,” I was incredibly honored to get that kind of support from the #1 expert on nullification, the guy who literally wrote the book on Nullification.
But, doing more for nullification than anyone in the world isn’t enough in the big picture.
Because this movement is about liberty, and not just the success of a single organization, we need more. The Tenth Amendment Center cannot continue to be the lone voice leading the effort to nullify. It’s going to take other organizations grabbing the baton and running with it.
Over the years, I’ve made a number of attempts to build a working relationship with C4L. While the people I’ve communicated with at their national office have generally been courteous to me, I’m sure their focus has been Paul campaigns, and connecting with us to tag-team state and local efforts didn’t fit their strategy at the time.
But this email from Tate, plus the surge of interest from state leaders this past legislative session, gives me hope. And even if nullification never becomes official national strategy for Campaign for Liberty, we’ll keep doing everything we can to continue leading the charge to resist federal power in the states. And we’ll do everything we can to provide their state leaders with all the education, tools, and information they need to be the muscle the nullification movement needs to get to the next level.
It’s an exciting time to be involved.
STEP BY STEP
There are so many inspirational leaders throughout history who understood the great importance of each step forward against what others would consider to be an immovable obstacle.
Mother Theresa said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”
Martin Luther King Jr. said: “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
And John Dickinson, the founding father known as the “penman of the revolution,” may have put it best: “Concordia res parvae crescunt.” That’s a Latin phrase which means “small things grow great by concord.”
Every Tenth Amendment Center member sees this phrase embossed on the front of their membership card because it drives us in everything we do.
Last weekend, we saw some small, but important steps forward – and we’re seeing some “concord.” It’s up to all of us to make them grow into something great.
I alone will never turn things around, and neither will you. Together, we can take each small step forward and build it into something great. Step by step, let’s relentlessly push forward for liberty.
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